If She Dies Before You

The white mist floated in the air before him, looking very eerie and strange, seemingly lifelike as if it possessed a consciousness of its own.

"Who are you?" Lu Jingren asked the obvious question. He didn't think he was being haunted by some malevolent spirit but he was close to assuming so.

"You already know the answer to that." The mist said. It didn't have any eyes, nose, or mouth but it moved and behaved much like a human with intelligence.

Lu Jingren frowned. He didn't think it would be true but then again, no one expected the world to suddenly plunge into chaos.

"You are...another me...?"

The mist laughed, shaking its head. It raised a hand and pointed a finger at him.

"No." It protested. "YOU are another me."

"No way." Lu Jingren instantly denied that claim.

"You don't need to believe me since you're only a replacement." The mist was quite odd and how its voice sounded similar to Lu Jingren's own voice. Was this really another him? Or some kind of original? Lu Jingren couldn't understand it. He felt that this was something beyond human logic. But then again, nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

"Rest assured that you aren't dreaming nor are you hallucinating." It was as if the mist could tell that Lu Jingren was questioning the authenticity of what he was seeing and hearing.

"What is this place?"

"Again, you already know the answer to that." Lu Jingren frowned once more. This strange creature who sounded like him was suspicious yet it knew what he was thinking as if it could read his mind.

"I'm not a mind reader." The mist immediately told him, calmly drifting in the air. Its hands crossed over its chest rather impatiently.

"It's because you are another me so I can tell what you're thinking."

If that was true then this must be...

"This is Lilian's space."

The mist was quiet for a second. It seemed to be thinking. "That isn't entirely true. This is my pocket space. I gave it to her. The land on the surface was something I obtained after many hardships."

"Since you suffered for it, why did you gave it to her?"

"So she could live."

"What are you?"

"What a meaningless question." The mist said in an impatient tone.

Lu Jingren suddenly thought of his fiancee. Then he thought of the girl in his dreams and that other him who was so similar yet so vastly different from him.

He seemed to realize something, something that he didn't think he would ever think was real.

Out of all the dozens of conclusions, he came up with, this was not it since it seemed so surreal.

"So you are him.." Lu Jingren confirmed after a long while of thinking.

"But that girl...isn't the Lilian I know." Lu Jingren added. The girl he dreamed of and his current fiancee were like two different people. The girl in the dream was simply too gentle and kind. The Lilian Mo of the present was also kind but she had a tougher attitude and seemed the type to hold grudges. To describe her as gentle was ...simply too...No, he didn't want to lie.

Lu Jingren sensed that something changed within the mist. It seemed to be angry?

"Shut up. Shut up." The mist repeated. "Don't ask questions. You only need to listen to me."

"I'm not a good listener."

The mist became aggravated and chaotic. It dispersed and wasn't able to retain its human figure but after a few seconds, it seemed to have calmed down.

Lu Jingren decided to ask a question. "That girl... what happened to her? Is she also another Lilian?"

He didn't receive any direct answer. "Hah, there is a limit to how stupid a person can get. Your meager level of intelligence begs me to question if this world is truly worth saving. It makes me wonder if I made the correct question. However, it no longer matters."

"Answer me and explain."

The mist laughed again. It seemed to think that Lu Jingren was funny for sounding so commanding.

"Yes, that's it. That is how I would usually act."

"You aren't making any sense." Lu Jingren didn't want to raise his voice but because this strange creature before him was so strange, he couldn't help but show a bit of curiosity and hostility.

"Idiot."

Lu Jingren was insulted but he was not provoked.

"I'm a smart person so you are supposed to be smart as well...but...this must be the price of being so in control... It's your IQ that suffered. But this is also as expected. While you are the weakest, at the very least, you are the most mentally stable among all of them. Beggars can't be choosers. It's your honor to make use of that useless life of yours for the greater good."

Lu Jingren's face became complicated when he heard this. He understood that the other party was now belittling him and that talking wouldn't yield any good results so he turned away, intending to leave and go back to the cave.

"Ah, you dare turn your back on me? How truly impudent." The mist stopped Lu Jingren on his tracks, blocking his way.

"Take one step forward and I will make sure that you stay here at the bottom of this place for the rest of your life until you outlive your pitiful human lifespan. Because it was me who brought you here, I can also keep you here and never let you go." The figure dispersed and the mist hovered around the area in silence.

Lu Jingren gritted his teeth.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want... Yes, that's a very good question." A voice whispered in his ear. Lu Jingren's eyes widened slightly as the mist shaped like a hand and coiled around his throat.

Lu Jingren's own voice was heard through his eardrums. It was low and alluring, yet filled with the kind of danger that made goosebumps rise on his skin. What was this? Why would he feel scared of his own voice?

"I want you to take care of my Lilian."

The mist continued to caress his neck.

"Take care of her... Use your pitiful human life for her sake... Be her good and loyal dog." The mist whispered.

"You cannot die unless she dies. And IF she dies before you..."

The mist around Lu Jingren's neck suddenly solidified causing him to choke.

"I will make you live a life worse than death."

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